The incandescent light bulb has been around since the late 1800s, but the venerable technology’s dominance seems just about over. On January 1, 2014, in keeping with a law passed by Congress in 2007, the old familiar tungsten-filament 40- and 60-watt incandescent light bulbs can no longer be manufactured in the U.S., because they don’t meet federal energy-efficiency standards.

It’s the last part of a gradual phase-out that began in 2012 with 100-watt bulbs, and progressed last year with discontinuation of the 75-watt variety. But this final stage is the most significant, according to Noah Horowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental organization. “The 40s and 60s represent more than 50 percent of the [consumer lighting] market,” he said.

Until the supplies run out, the old bulbs still will be available on store shelves, alongside the electricity-saving alternatives that gradually will replace them, according to Paul Molitor, an assistant vice-president of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, an Arlington, Va.-based industry group. Those new choices include compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, and updated higher-efficiency versions of the incandescent bulb that use halogen gas to slow down deterioration of the tungsten filament.

The impending demise of the familiar old-fashioned light bulb has generated a backlash among some who see it as taking away consumers’ free choice. (The conservative Heritage Foundation, for example, has proclaimed that “The Government’s Taking Away Your Light Bulbs on Jan. 1.”) But despite that, a recent public-opinion survey commissioned by lighting manufacturer Osram Sylvania indicates that only three in ten consumers intend to hoard supplies of the old bulbs and stick with them. Instead, most people say they’ll switch to one of the newer lighting technologies. About half of Americans will switch to CFLs, while a quarter envision using the newer LEDs. (See related post: “Efficient Light Bulb Study Generates Heated Debate.”)

NEMA spokesman Molitor said that the impending disappearance of conventional low-efficiency incandescent lights isn’t really going to be a big deal to consumers, who already are moving to the new technologies. Prices of 60-watt equivalent compact fluorescent lights, for example, have dropped in price to the point where they’re comparable to the old lower-efficiency conventional incandescent bulbs, and the newer technologies provide the same amount of light—measured in units called lumens—while utilizing fewer watts of electricity. “Truthfully, most people aren’t really going to notice,” he said.

Both Molitor and Horowitz expect to see continued growth of LEDs, which emit light by transmitting electricity between two different semiconducting materials, and promise dramatic boosts in both energy efficiency and durability. (A 2012 paper by manufacturer General Electric claimed that its LED bulbs, in addition to using only a quarter of the electricity required by conventional incandescent bulbs, have a lifespan of 22 years, and can “virtually light a child’s bedroom desk lamp from birth through college graduation.”)

Both experts also saw a continued market for high-efficiency incandescent light bulbs. Incandescent halogen bulbs now provide around 18 lumens per watt—not as efficient as their CFL and LED counterparts, which can achieve 55-100 lumens per watt, but much better than the old 60-watt incandescents at 13-15 lumens per watt. Horowitz predicted that halogen manufacturers eventually may be able to achieve more twice the efficiency than they can get now. “Theoretically, there’s no reason they couldn’t hit 45 lumens per watt,” he said.

Comments

Karen

US

August 20, 2015, 5:52 pm

I know many people who are sensitive to fluorescent lighting an so this change is very dangerous. Some have gotten physically sick. I know two people who cannot be int he same room as flourescent lights. What are they supposed to do? After I got sick with an autoimmune disease, I could not tolerate them either and it was terrible. I have gotten much less sensitive now that I am well, but it showed me that there is something wrong with these bulbs! There are many people with sensitive immune systems these days and this is the last thing they need!

Cheryl

Chicago

August 20, 2015, 2:02 pm

I’m an avid vintage collector and have spent significant time and money on completely furnishing and decorating my home with vintage pieces, including LAMPS – all of my lamps are vintage! Many vintage lamps use exposed, decorative, incandescent bulbs, such as globes, flame tips, star tips, etc, that simply cannot be replaced with the new CFL or LED bulbs, as the new bulbs have very unattractive bases when exposed.

One BIG reason I took the leap and decided to start decorating and furnishing solely with vintage pieces, was in the eco-friendly spirit of “REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE”. Having to replace ALL of my lamps that require incandescent bulbs with new completely defeats this purpose.

Matt

August 13, 2015, 3:54 am

I had a CFL in my living room until it started strobing and smelling burnt. I put a 60W incandescent back in there and haven’t gone back to CFL. I do have CFL in the rooms that I don’t spend much time in and have some incandescents on dimmers in a couple bedrooms (dimmed lights use far less electricity). Even the energy savings are a bit overblown. In the winter, its $0. I have to heat the house anyways, and its darker, longer in the winter. in the summer, I tend to have 7 bulbs going about 6 hours a day for a total of about 200 watts. Thats about 36 kWh and at about 10 cents a kWh, about $3.60 to light my house for a month (the lesser used lights might add another $1 to that).

If they were CFL, it would knock it down to 59 watts. and 11 kWh for the month. So my lighting bill goes from $3.60 to $1.06…. The $2.54 saved isn’t even going to be noticeable on the bill. If I really wanted to save electricity, I could just turn off a couple lights when I leave the room. Plus with CFL, I’d tend to leave lights on more because I’m thinking “these are so cheap, its more work to turn the light off than to just leave it on”

Dan Kosareo

Cleveland, OH

June 8, 2015, 10:29 am

A new LED bulb in our bathroom just fell apart. It was in a bathroom fixture hanging upside down. The globe fell off after the light switch turned off. The problem is we have 5 more LED bulbs in the same orientation left between two bathrooms. I also have these bulbs in ceiling fixtures throughout the house.

I blame 110th U.S. Congress (2007) for phasing out incandescent bulbs when CFL and LED technology wasn’t ready for the consumer market. These new bulbs cost ten-twenty times more than the old bulbs. CFL and LED bulbs haven’t lived up to the long life claims, and the manufacturers won’t backup their guarantee without consumers jumping through hoops. My experience with GE’s CFL’s is that one must save the original receipt and the packaging to get their money back. Who saves packaging and receipts for years? I hate waiting for CFL’s to reach their peak lumens. Plus, they are not environmentally safe to dispose.

Thank you Congress (idiots)!

rspolo

NEW YORK

June 1, 2015, 3:20 pm

I have been in the industry for 35 years and cannot believe how screwed up the government has made the industry. My family has been in the lighting industry since its inception and had a direct relationship with Edison
There are lots of loopholes and one of my cousins (who has the one remaining original 1880s Edison lamp that was given to us by Edison himself) has read the legislation and its loopholes and is manufacturing LEGAL incandescent lamps under the Newcandescent label (Google “the lightbulb store” or Newcandescent).. If you want to see our Edison lamp in action do a youtube search for “Larry Birnbaum Lights Original Edison Light Bulb”

Miranda

USA

April 10, 2015, 6:15 pm

Why does the government get to decide how green we are? Why don’t we just produce all the varieties of bulbs and allow ppl who want to save energy buy those and those of us who need to really see in our dark old barns buy incandescents? The People should choose, this is America!

Alek Hyra

22152

March 27, 2015, 9:55 am

I like to use LEDs in warm weather, incandescent bulbs in cold weather.

gloria jennings

Washington state

March 21, 2015, 9:44 am

The new bulbs don’t throw as much heat. Lots if people use the 100 watt bulbs for baby chicks brooder boxs. Or to heat their pump house in the winter.

Leslie Brown

United States

March 14, 2015, 1:13 pm

I will like to order Bulbs

trevor

Slovenia

January 14, 2015, 11:55 am

Those in favour of the new bulbs should read the Health and Safety paper about what to do if you drop one.
Basically, everyone must vacate the room and not return until they are clad like spacemen.
They are difficult to recycle, and this cost probably outweighs the energy saving.
In many cases, they do not fit your present light fittings: so it will cost you a fortune to replace the fittings.
In many situations the quality of light is not as good as with incandescent bulbs.
My neighbour decided to ‘save the world’ and reckoned it would cost about 600 UK pounds to replace his present bulbs.
Buy incandescent bulbs while you can !!